Bristol is pitching itself to be the new home of Channel 4, with the national channel being encouraged to relocate out of London.

The Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has made it clear to Channel 4 she sees its future outside of its Horseferry Road home in Victoria, London, where currently 800 of its staff are based.

Mrs Bradley, speaking in March, said the Government wanted “the benefits of this national asset to be spread far and wide, not just in London”.

The relocation of Channel 4 – which doesn’t make any of its own programmes but commissions independent television and filmmakers instead – featured in the Conservative Party manifesto but failed to make it into the Queen’s Speech this week.

The benefits of the channel moving out of London were also touted by Bristol Metro Mayor candidate John Savage, who had the idea in his manifesto.

A public consultation into a possible move is currently open for another two weeks, closing on July 5.

Marvin Rees at his swearing-in ceremony, watched by former elected mayor George Ferguson. (Image: Barbara Evripidou)

Birmingham, Leeds, Brighton, Sheffield and Manchester – whose connected neighbouring city, Salford, is now home to BBC Sport and 5Live Radio – have already publicly thrown their name into the hat.

But now Mayor Marvin Rees has confirmed Bristol has also put its name forward, with Mr Rees having met with the chief executive of Channel 4 in early spring.

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On Wednesday, the Labour Party politician followed up those discussions by meeting with the head of Pact Council, the trade body which represents the interest of independent television, film and animation companies in the UK, in order to get help in lobbying the Government and the industry.

Mr Rees said the talks were not only about Channel 4’s possible relocation also about trying to increase the amount of money the state-owned broadcaster spends on commissioning programmes from outside the Capital.

The new series of Channel 4's Crystal Maze was filmed in Bristol

It currently spends a third of its £450million annual budget on “regional” programmes but leading figures of Bristol’s television industry would like that to be closer to 50 per cent.

“I would say Bristol is leading the way – we are at the forefront on this,” said Mr Rees.

“Our position is that the best thing would be a relocation but the real prize is getting Channel 4 to up its spend to 50 per cent outside London. Then the whole sector benefits.

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“We know the relocation is up in the air – it didn’t feature in the Queen’s Speech. It might not happen. We know the likes of Manchester and Birmingham are positioning themselves – and we are as well.

“But the real demand is trying to up their spend.”

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Mr Rees confirmed, joined by representatives from Bristol’s production industry, met with the outgoing Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham earlier this year. Mr Abraham told him he was the first leader of the cities vying to be the channel’s new home to request a face-to-face meeting.

Parts of another popular TV show, Poldark, was filmed in the New Room, Bristol

“When the news came out, loads of cities started were in the papers saying they were going to get Channel 4 to come to them,” said Mr Rees, a former BBC journalist.

“But we didn’t do that. I went to London and had a meeting with David Abraham and he said we were the first to go and see him. We wanted to know what he wanted from a move. I think that approach has put us in good stead. We weren’t blustering about it in the papers.”

Mr Rees said he told the CEO that Bristol would be looking to create more diversity within the city's industry, making the benefits more widely spread.

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At that meeting with the C4 boss, the mayor was joined by Grant Mansfield, the chief executive of the Clifton-based Plimsoll Production company which produces Secret Millionaire and My Million Pound Council House, and Fiona Francombe, site director of city council-owned Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove.

Recent productions to have been filmed at the studios include the TV series Sherlock, Broadchurch, Poldark, along with the new version of Crystal Maze which airs on Friday on Channel 4.

Fiona Francombe, site director at Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol

Ms Francombe said Bristol was an “incredibly good fit” but accepted getting the company to spend more of its money in the city was the priority.

“While Channel 4 would be an incredibly good fit for Bristol because of its funkiness and ethos and everything else, it would also be acceptable if they do decide to stay in London as long as there is a payback of making more programmes in the regions,” she said.

“When we went to see David Abraham, Marvin started by saying ‘This is not a pitch’. We were just there to have a chat. We weren’t there to show them where their new offices were going to be and say, ‘Here’s your car parking space’. It was a really good conversation.”

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A Channel 4 spokesman said they were unable to comment on the meeting between the Bristol delegation and CEO Mr Abraham.

He said: “Channel 4 already delivers a significant impact in the UK’s ‘nations and regions’ and we want to continue to work with Government as part of its consultation to explore meaningful ways to grow this further and support jobs, investment and growth in the creative economy across the whole of the UK.

“In doing so we want to ensure that Channel 4 remains commercially sustainable and is able to maximise its investment in original British-produced programming.”